The U.S. military is to receive continued contractor logistical support for Shadow tactical unmanned aerial systems from Textron Systems Support Solutions.

The contract from the U.S. Army is worth $206 million and covers the period from November through 2018.

"Support Solutions has been the chosen CLS contractor for the U.S. Army's CLS contract since 2005, and we are proud to continue supporting their Shadow systems throughout this past decade," said Textron Support Solutions Senior Vice President and General Manager Ryan Hazlett.

"This contract also supports the U.S. Army's Shadow v2 block upgrade program, under which Textron Systems acts as an end-to-end solution provider."

Textron said services covered under the contract include systems sustainment management, engineering support, contractor logistics support management, field service operations, depot material repair and management and post productions software support.

The Shadow is used by the Army and Marine Corps for reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and battle damage assessment. It is also used by Australian and Swedish military forces.

The U.S. Army is teaming the Shadow v2 system with its Apache helicopter fleet for scouting missions within its combat aviation brigades.

Textron has provided logistical support for the Shadow since 2005.

Tough drone market forces layoffs at French maker Parrot
Paris (AFP) Jan 10, 2017 - Shares in French drone manufacturer Parrot crashed more than 17 percent on Tuesday after the group announced mass job cuts, signalling an end to years of expansion in the new technology market.

The Paris-based company said Monday it would make 290 out of 840 workers redundant in its drone division because fierce competition and falling prices deepened its losses.

As well as facing competition from other toy drone makers such as market leading China-based DJI and US-based GoPro, Parrot has seen the market flooded by rivals looking to undercut the big names on price.

"Parrot has taken on board the changes in market for consumer drones," it said in a statement to announce the cutbacks.

The group lost 26.3 million euros ($27.8 million) in the third quarter of last year, adding to the 67.7 million euros it lost in the first six months of 2016.

Its separate but smaller businesses in wireless entertainment products for cars and commercial drones remain on track, the company said.

Its shares were down 17.6 percent in afternoon trading on the Paris stock exchange at 9.05 euros.